Primordial Soul's Rebirth

CHAPTER 401 - Toward Next Friend.

"so you are thinking of going to meet her, huh?"

a short guy with long, white hair and blue eyes spoke, his eyes staring at a lady with fiery hair and eyes, sitting adjacent to him, along with alex, ann, and alice.

they were shirozan and emberlyn. friends from a long time ago, unable to meet due to their own circumstances.

right now, they were talking about the next destination of emberlyn after discussing several other things. emberlyn still didn't tell shirozan about her ability to save her soul or anything about it; she just said that she was lucky to survive when he asked how she was alive.

it was not because she didn't trust him. shirozan was the most straightforward among the four mythical beasts, but still, no one can guess when one turns against the other.

even antares, the golden dragon, seemed pretty normal before he did everything. no one knew what was going through his mind and why he did it, but he still did it, and she was the one who faced the consequences.

she didn't want to repeat the same mistake again, and unknown to her, a seed of suspicion had already been born in her pure and forgiving heart.

that, however, was just natural after all that she had been through. for now, however, she was concerned about her other friend, the black tortoise's, health.

"yes, how has she been?"

so, replying to shirozan's question, she inquired about her dear friend's health. the reply, however, wasn't something she wanted to hear.

"i haven't heard from her since the day everything happened. she's been holed up in her area, never leaving it and always sleeping."

shirozan sighed, his head hanging down, sad about how things had turned.

they used to talk and joke around—all four of them. now, even getting to see each other was a big thing. not like shirozan wanted to meet antares; he only cared about the black tortoise, now emberlyn as well since she was alive and well.

"i will just go to her then."

emberlyn, not really happy about this new discovery, gets up and turns to look at alex, nodding at him, gesturing that she was done here.

she couldn't get over the fact that her only female friend and someone whom she treated like a sister—a person who, unlike her predecessors, had a cherry personality, which didn't suit the black tortoise at all.

how could a person that outgoing lock herself inside an area, not coming out to talk with even her friends for all these years?

the black tortoise was not someone like that. she was someone who would make fun of you and try to make you laugh even if you were mad at her. there was no way she would stay hidden for so long without a reason.

"her overprotective nature is still the same, so, you know, taking the demon lord with you might not be the best option when going to meet her. people change. and it had been so many years since any of us had talked; i don't know how much she had changed in this period."

but before alex could nod back at her, shirozan's voice was heard again, laced with a warning, alerting emberlyn about the danger of bringing alex along with her.

his words, just like intended, made emberlyn concerned. she knew her friend's nature. that woman was someone who would keep her whole area sealed even if the wind started blowing a bit fiercely, just so that her people, the ones who worshiped her, wouldn't get harmed.

there was even an instance where she attacked shirozan for barging into her area unannounced, scaring the hell out of her people.

"yes."

emberlyn, on the other hand, oblivious to the fact that she was leading a wolf to the sheep holding, nodded her head, stepping toward the portal, and alex, who saw that, couldn't help but grin, but not for long; it vanished the moment it appeared.

"good. seraphyra, we are moving to the next location!"

the next instant, as soon as his expression returned to normal, he called out to seraphyra, who was roaming around the forest, enjoying the scenery. it was hard to find this type of greenery in the demon empire after all.

she didn't know that the next place they were going to was probably more green than this one, but yeah, they weren't going to get the chance to enjoy the scenery there... or maybe they would, who knows?

"coming!"

for now, they were just going to the location that emberlyn had told them to go. it was the place that was closest to the melanochelys empire. after this place, any use of magic, one as grand as teleportation, is considered hostile, or so was what emberlyn told them.

so, alex, listening to her words, was now taking them to that exact point.

soon, all of them—ann, alice, seraphyra, and emberlyn—had stepped into the portal, vanishing from the forest under shirozan's silent gaze. leaving only alex with noctura in his arms and shirozan in the area, staring at the portal with the air turning weirdly tense.

"your eyes are quite sharp, huh?"

the silence, however, was broken by alex's mutter, his eyes still staring at the portal, but notura, who was in his arms, had her head turned toward shirozan, who standing calmly stared at the portal just like alex.

"hm? what are you talking about? i have been blind for a while now." replied shirozan, still staring at the portal, his hand behind his back clenching hard.

"good to know. sometimes being blind is better..."

alex, as if satisfied by his response, nodded his head, turning to look at shirozan with a smile, and the guy returned the smile back to him.

"i know."

listening to those words, alex nodded his head again and stepped into the portal. noctura's eyes, however, never left shirozan until she disappeared along with the portal.

"hahhhh..."

it was only when they were gone did shirozan let go of the air he was holding in his lungs, his back drenched with cold sweat and his knuckles white due to him clenching his fists too tight.

"that was... terrifying."

he muttered, recalling the past moments.

"i wish you luck, bulma..."

he fell back to the ground, shaking his head as he wished his old friend luck. he had seen alex's grin after all, and although he didn't know what that grin was for, he knew pretty well that it was anything but good.

but he knew better than to talk about it with anyone else. he was blind, after all.